Metal building construction



June 21, 1932. R. P. HUTCHIN SON METAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION v Filed Jan. 24, 1951 2. Sheets-Sheet R o T N E v June Zl, 1932. R. P. HUTCHINSON METAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 24, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M IN\YIEI;ITORI WA WM wn Patented June 21, 1932 PATENT OFFICE ROBERT P. HUTCHINSON, OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA METAL BUILDING CONSTRUUDION Application filed January 24, 1931. Serial No. 511,099.

This invention pertains to building constructions, and more particularly to metal dwelling house constructions.

Although steel and other metal materials are of great importance in ofiice, factory, hanger, and other large construct-ion jobs, yet in such structures as do not absolutely require the strength and other qualifications of metal, wood seems to be the predominate material. Particularly, is this true with reference to ordinary dwelling house constructions. The reasons are manifold, but will be briefly enumerated.

Before going any further, it must be noted that even in the formerclass of structures, the use of metal materials is somewhat definitely restricted. Briefly, the use is more or less limited to primary structures, such as frames, supports, beams, and reinforcements. 1

But the present day development of metal constructions employed for relatively small structures, suchas for dwelling houses, has been even more limited in extent; in the latter type double, or relatively heavy walls are needed both from a temperature as well as a sound-proof basis.

Contractors, manufacturers, architects, and the builders themselves have adhered, more or less, to conventional designs. The use of steel has been barred from finishing detail and in general, from dwelling house popularity, perhaps, for one reason, due to old standards and ideas handed down by tradition and custom. To overcome the popular inertia in such cases, it is necessary to somewhat revolutionize the building industry through the agency of highly superior constructions, and to show that some heretofore impregnable standards are altogether unnecessary and superfluous, and that certain other standards can be much simplified, and that certain heretofore unknown standards are of great importance and value.

Also, the expense necessarily attendant to the special, custom-fabrication of metal materials for a single, small dwellin has been prohibitive; the ultimate need 0 the usual types of skilled labor suchas the carpenters,

plasterers, bricklayers, lathers and the like,

for practically the same working periods as in the all-timber constructions, .is another item of cost; the difiiculties of attaching the finishing materials to-the metal frame structure, and the lack of co-ordination between details, all have a tendency to offset any advantages claimed for the known, presentday, types of dwelling constructions, utilizing at least some metal materials.

Although it may be contended that homes will lose their individuality where materials are fabricated on a standardized production basis, yet such is not true, for a certain standardized number of parts, will, if combined in different combinations and or manner give a surprising number of different efi'ects. Special orders can be readily filled; and minor changes readily made in the factory before thesections are shipped,

Time is a very important factor in any industry, and it is one ofthe chief factors governing ultimate cost. It plays an important role not only in the shop, but also in the field. In building construction work, the greatest importance attaches to the time consumed in the field; there are many reasons for-this distinction, and a few will be enumerated: quick changes of weather, the expensiveness of the semi-skilled labor, the number of classes of workers required and their union restrictions, and the-suddenness of many housing needs.

Thus, it is very advantageous to construct as much as possible of the building in the shop under high speed production methods, so that when an order for a number of houses is given, the semi-constructedparts stored in industry, and on the other side, the eficient, 7'

highly productive and standardized methods employed in the manufacture of automobiles and the like, and the ability of such automobile manufacturers to satisfy the individual tastes as well as the popular demand.

And, ithas been an object of my invention to devise a substantially all-metal building construction.

Another object of my invention has been to devise building constructions and methods whereby a greater part of the work may be done in the shops.

Another object of my invention has been to devise methods and means for minimizing the field labor requirements of a given installation.

A further object of my invention has been to devise methods and means for the construction of substantially made-to-order metal buildings.

A further object of my invention has been to devise an improved form and method of dwelling house construction.

A still further object of my invention has been to devise building constructions and methods that are more inexpensive, organized, efiicient, and capable of erection simplicity.

These and many other objects will appear to those skilled in the art from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view in elevation and section of a simple dwelling construction illustrating an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the side wall section taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1; with the outer weather-board finish removed;

Fig. 3 is a side view in elevation of an eave construction for the embodiment of Fig. 1{ with the outer plate portion removed.

Fig. 4 is a top view taken along the line IVIY of Fig. 3, but showing the outer plate in lace.

igs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are showings of details.

Fig. 5 is a section of an upper floor and ceiling section of Fig. 1; Fig.6 is a perspective section showing a securing plate for nailing members; Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of a corner member before being connected to its adjacent corner member; Fig. 8 is a top view showing corner members after being connected, taken along line VIIIVIII of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a section showin a complete corner taken along line IX-I of Fig. 1, but with the outer plate in place; Fig. 10 is a section in perspective taken along the line XX of Fig. 1; and Fig. 11 is an enlarged view of an angle piece d ofFi .3,- but with the scantling mounted thereagalnst.

In the embodiments of my invention chosen for the purpose of illustration, I have shown a. simple form of dwelling house construction 10 em loying any usual type of foundation 11. A though many adaptations will suggest bedded in the walls 11 (see Fig. 1) that their upper edges lie on the same horizontal plane as those of the foundation.

Thus, spaced and substantially horizontally extending joists 17 for supporting metal floor plates 16 are positioned, at right angles to the girders 12 to restthereupon; but, if desired, this construction permits the joists to be positioned in such a manner that one end of each joist 17 rests upon the top edge of a given side wall of the foundation 11, and the other end rests upon a given girder 12 (not shown). I have shown a very simple, yet desirable type of floor skeleton construction that will be more appreciated after an understanding of my invention as a whole.

The house or building portion proper 10, is erected from any deslred number of floor 15, wall 20, partition 20a, ceiling 15, eave 20b, and/ or roof sections 15", fabricated and made up to full-room size in the shop. Although, for the averageconstruction ob, the sections will preferably have a full-room size, yet, if the rooms are extremely large, or if the shipping space is limited, the sections' can, of course, be cut out to lesser, but preferably, equal portions, and erected in place at the field in the same manner as the full-room sections, as will be subsequently explained.

Having in mind the need for facility in field erection, I have fabricated, cut out, fashioned, and designed the sections in such a manner that they can be erected inplace in their chronological, or logical and numerical order by means of a crane, derrick, or the like.

After the various sections are erected completely including the roof which is of a similar construction, window and door frames will be installed, stripping and weather-board on outside walls, and stripping and slate on the roof. The construction will then be ready for interior trim and floor finishing.

Further, the sections may be provided with suitable angle brackets a riveted, bolted, or welded thereto, in order that their u right, stud or' wei ht bearing channel mem ers 23 or 23a may e rigidly secured in elected position with respect to the foundation 11, and

provided with angle brackets 72 in order that their channel members 23 or 23a may be rigidly secured to each other (see Figures 1, 7, and 8). Of course, the brackets 12 are not entirely a necessity, particularly if in addition, the channels 23 or 23a are welded together; but, they at least can be employed to hold the channel members while they are being welded together to facilitate quick secement can be poured into the holes over the stavs or the like therein, and allowed to set. ince the erection features. are apparent from the drawings, I will go into only those details which seem to need explanation.

First, the floor sections and their construction details will be taken under consideration: The floor sections 15, as seen in Figs. 1 and 5 are made u of longitudinally extending thin metal p ates or sheets 16 .Whose widths are disposed or laid out in side by side, adjacent, contiguous and abutting relationsh1p. That is, the widths of the plates are dis osed or laid out upon a common plane in or er that their combined width corresponds to the desired dimensions of the room. Adjacent plates will have a longitudinally extending seam therebetween over which a continuous weld may be made to rigidly secure them together. The plates 16 may be longitudinally rolled out to the desired length of room.

In order to support the unitary plate member thus formed, a plurality of suitable longitudinally .extendin structural members, or joists 17 and 17 are provided. Each joist 17 or 17 is disposed in spaced relationship with respect to the others, its top edge is centered beneath one of the longitudinal seams, is positioned to extend therealong and therebeneath, and may be rigidly secured to the edges of the adjacent plates forming the seam by the same welding operation as secures those edges together.

On the first floor, the joist members 17 may be I-beams; but the joists 17 for subsequent floors, where they show in the room below, may be made up of twochannel members (see Figs. 1 and 5) having their edges turned in andwelded together, in order that each joist after being smoothed ofi at the weld and painted, will give a timbered effect. Thus, the contiguous edges of the adjacent plates form with their su porting beams 17 or 17 a complete floor section 15 or 15'.

After the lower floor section 15 is fitted, welded or bolted in position-on the top of the foundation 11 and the I-beam girders17, the walls 20 and partitions 20a can be erected in place.

The walls 20 and partitions 20a include inner 21 and outer 22 plate portions'having a spaced and parallel relation with respect to each other; the inner portion 21, when painted, papered or the like, forms the inside nished wall of a given room; and, if a partition section 20a, the outer portion 22 serves in a like manner, but if a wall section 20, the

outer portion 22 may be covered with weather boarding 37 or other suitable finish.

Since the wall section 20, the partition sec- 1 tion 20a and the cave 206 are substantiall alike in construction, I will hereafter, hot in the specification and claims, when speaking of the wall and artition sect-ions broadly, merelyrefer to t em as wall sections.

As seen from Fig. 1, the lower plates of the inner 21 and outer 22 wall portions, respectfully, are rolled out to relatively wide wi ths; and since, in general, the maximum width conveniently rolled is 72", it is necessary to employ upper plates. The use of two plates for each portion of a section 20, 20a, or 206 has advantages, a few of which will be later brought out.

It will be noted that a space of some width, say 1", is left between the edges of the lower and upper, plates of both the inner 21 and outer 22 portions, and that the lower plate of the inner portion 21 is raised a short distance from the floor level, in order that a baseboard 28 may be positioned over the opening left thereby. For this reason the upper plate of the inner portion 21 has 'a somewhat shorter width than the upper plate of the outer portion, 22 (in the case of wall sections 20 but not necessarily in case of artitionsections 20a.)- 100 s seen the wall sections 20 may have their widths so arranged that the scams or spacing between the plates of each of the inner 21- and the outer 22 plate portions, do

not fall directly opposite each other, one

reason being the fact that the seam of the inner portion 21 is covered with suitable wall molding 29 and thus, must have a relatively greater height than the seam of the outer section 22; another rests in the fact that it is more economical to roll out the lower plates of both portions of a section20 to a like width; another is the increased rigidity given to the wall section as a whole.

In order to suitably space the plate portions of the partition 20a and wall' sections 20, and to suitably stud the construction, a plurality'of upwardly and vertically extending,-spaced, substantially full-length, channel members 23, 23 and 23a-are provided. no And, in order to more rigidly secure the plates of both the inner 21 and outer 22 portions near the seams, short positioning members 24 of channel form are disposed to extend across the spacing thereof and are rigid- 1y secured to the inner faces of the inner 21 and outer 22 plate portions of the sections 20, 20a and 20b. In order to provide'means I for fastening wooden-or other forms of molding strip 29, wooden-nailing blocks 31 are I screwed or bolted to the positionin channel members 24 (in a manner suggeste by Figs. 6 or 10). Lower channel members 24 welded to the inner faces of both plate portions of a section, support wooden nailing blocks to which a baseboard 28 may be'secured; and, in addition, further reinforce the plates of the sections near their bottom edges.

The partition sections 2011 are formed in a manner substantially like the wall sections 20, though of course, the seams of the inner 21 and outer 22 portions will be substantially opposite each other to provide a uniform height of molding and to provide baseboard space. No further finish is required except paint or some other form of artistic coating. As seen in Figure 1, for the purpose of illustration, the partition 20a shows two possible constructions. The outer plate assembly, as shown, eliminates the need of a baseboard 28 while inner plate construction shows employment of a baseboard 28 as well as the usual form of molding board 29. Of course, it must be understood that in a normal partition construction, one form or the other would be employed for both the inner and outer plates, or in other words, for each side of such partition.

Although any suitable-or desired form of weather finish for the house may be employed, even a brick veneer or the like, I have,

for the purpose of illustration shown a very preferable and simple form which consists of suitable skeleton scantling 35 secured to positioning plates 0 rigidly welded or secured to the outer face of the outer plate portions 22, as suggested by Fig. 1 and Fig. 6, at strategic locations. Any ordinary form of weatherpoarding 37 can then be nailed to the scanting. 1

To illustrate how the doors and window are constructed, I have shown a window A and a door B. The preferable construction being to so space the upright studs 23, 23' or 23a as to leave the desired width of opening.

In order that the door and window frames may be nailed in place, where there are no upright channels confinient, small pieces of channel 24 may be welded to the plates near the edges of the cut-out openings at suitable locations thereabout to which wood nailing pieces or blocks 25 can be secured (see Fig. 1). These wood members 25 afford nailing for wood scantling positioned along the sides of the opening and forming a rough head j amb and sill for the suitable window or door frame.

The roof 15", if of the construction shown, is preferably made up of two side sections, fabricated to full room sizes. Each section includes the same form of plate and I-beam structure 17 as the first floor 17, if the attic is to be unfinished; if it is to be finished, the channel structure 17' of the second floor can be used; or if increased protection from the weather is .needed, inner and outer plate portions separated by spaced I-beams can be employed (not shown). It must be understood that the plate construction as shown for the walls 20 may be employed for the floors or ceiling if desired; or, maybe modified in any desired manner to meet the conditions of such an employment.

To fasten wood scantling 35 to the top face of the roof plates 16", the method of Fig. 6 is suggested. As shown, a small upright metal lug or piece 0 is welded to the top face of the plate 16" and is drilled to receive one or more screws, bolts, or nails to fasten the Wood scantling thereto. In Fig. 3 and in the enlarged view of Fig. 11, a slightly different method is employed; an angle piece 01 is bolted, welded or riveted to the outer surface of the roof plate 16", and the scantling 35 is clamped, screwed or otherwise secured to the upwardly extending aim of the angle d. Any formof roofing, such as 38, may now be nailed to the longitudinally extending roof scantling 35.

Figs. 6 and 10 illustrate how the wood nailing blocks 30 and scantling 35 may, by means of holes drilled in the various metal members, be secured with screws or the like thereto.

The method of constructing the sections will be briefiy explained. The plates forming a ven floor or wall portion or the like of .a section are laid out horizontally on skids pieces of wood before putting the other plate portion in position.

The metal caps 40, 40 (see Figure 1) and the short posts 23a of channel form, are preferably placed in position at the job, or the field, since they constitute important elements of connection between the upper and lower story sections of the construction. The channel shaped studding 23, 23a or 23 of the wall, partition, and eave sections, are cut short at their upper ends, say about 4", in order that the cap members 40 and 40' can be secured in position thereagainst, partly if not wholly within the sides of the inner-21 or 21' and outer 22 or 22' portions of the sections.

In the field, the sections, their plates, channer suggested by Fig. 10, and a finishedround 34. of wood or the like is nailed to the wood u right 32, over the opening.

My orm and method of metal building construction has many advantages, such as facility and simplicity of erection, inexpensiveness of first cost and upkeep, possibilities of unit standardization, of a less number of necessary parts, of interchangeableness of details; saving of materials, low rate of deterioration; impossibility of warp, rot, or sag, and a greater strength-to-bulk ratio than wood.

Although steel is one of the preferable materials due not only to its relative inexpen-.

siveness, weld-ability, strength, and rigidity, et certain alloys of aluminum will give a ight and strong construction.

I do not wish to limit in invention to the particular embodiment s own, for many combinations, and effects can be produced by one skilled in the building art when applying the known art in view of my disclosure;

Unless otherwise limited the term wall as emplo ed in the claims is intended to include a oor, roof or eave, as wellas a side wall or partition structure. dividual form of structures can be used interchangeably in designing a given building.

Thus, while I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that man changes, modifications, substitutions, ad itions and omissions or combinations thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as indicated in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an article of manufacture, a metal wall section that includes spaced plates having their faces in parallel juxtaposition, said plates being securedtogether by suitable channels welded thereto, said section being formed as a unit in the shop for sending it to a job, said channels being cut short at the top, so that said plates may be spread apart to receive a cap channel at the job.

2. In an article of manufacture, a wall section for a building which includes inner and outer plate portions having a spaced and parallel relationship with res ect to each other, spaced and lon 'tudinal y extending channel members positioned between said plates and secured thereto, said channels corresponding to the studding in ordinary construction and being cut short at their upper ends, so that a channel member may be forced between the upper edges of the inner and outor lates of the wall for providing a cap for said channel studs.

That is, the in- 3. In an article of manufacture, a unitary metal wall section for a building which includes inner and outer plate portions extending in a given direction, weight bearing members spacing said inner and outer plate portions with respect to each other .and extending in another direction to the direction of extension of said plate portions, one of said plate portions including upper and lower plates having their widths disposed in side by side relationship in a direction corresponding to the direction of extension of said Weight bearing members.

4. In an article of manufacture,-a unitary metal wall section for a building which includes horizontally extending inner and outer plate portions, vertically extending members spacing said inner and outer plate portions with respect to each other and supporting said structure, one of said portions including upper and lower plates having their widths disposed in side by side vertical relationship.

5. In an article of manufacture, a unitary wall section for a building construction which includes horizontally extending inner and outer plate portions, stud channels spacing said portions with respect to each other and extending vertically thereof for supporting said structure, each of said portions including upper and lower plates having their widths positioned in side by side and vertically spaced relationship, so that nailing members may be positioned adjacent the space between upper and lower plates for securing timber structure thereto.

6. In an article of manufacture, a unitary metal wall section for a building construction which includes a plurality of planar and horizontally extending plate portions, vertically extending members spacing and rigidly securing said portions in parallel relation with respect to, each other, each of said portions including a plurality of plates having their widths positioned in spaced relation, so that nailing members may be positioned"adjacent the space between upper and lower plates for securing timber structure thereto.

7 In an article of manufacture, a unitary wall section for building construction which includes a plurality of planar and horizontally extending plate portions, vertically extending members disposed between said plate portions for spacing them with respect to each other, said members being rigidly secured to said plate portions, the plate portions of said section having upper and lower plates dis-, posed in vertically spaced relation with respect to each other, so'that nailing members may be positioned adjacent the space between upper and lower plates for securing timber structure thereto.

8. In an article of manufacture, a metal wall construction for a building which includes a plurality of plate portions disposed plate in spaced relation with respect to each other, upwardly extending members disposed between said plate portions and rigidly secured thereto, the inner of said plate portions including upper and lower plates positioned in spaced relation, the lower plate being positioned above a baseboard level and having a width measured from the baseboard level which corresponds to a molding board level, so that molding board may be positioned to cover the space between the upper and lower plates of the inner portion.

9. In an article of manufacture, a metal wall construction for a building which includes a plurality of plate portions disposed in spaced relation, spaced and upwardly extending members disposed between said plate portions and rigidly secured thereto, said portions including upper and lower plates having their edges disposed in parallel and spaced relation with respect to each other, the lower plate being positioned above the baseboard level and having a width measured fromthe baseboard level which corresponds to a molding board level, and members rigidly secured to said metal wall construction adJacent the molding board level and the baseboard level, so that suitable molding and baseboard may be positioned thereon.

10. In an article of manufacture, a fullroom size wall section which includes inner and outer plate portions, upwardly extending stud channels positioned between said inner and outer plate portions and rigidly secured thereto, said inner plate portion including upper and lower plates positioned in spaced side-by-side relationship, the lower being positioned above a baseboard level and having a width measured from the baseboard level which corresponds to a molding board level, so that molding board may be positioned to cover the space between the upper and lower plates of the inner portion.

11. In an article of manufacture, a fullroom size metal wall section which includes inner and outer plate portions, spaced and upwardly extending stud channels positioned between said inner and outer portions and rigidly secured thereto, said portions includ- 1ng upper and lower plates having their widths positioned in side-by-side and spaced relationship with respect to each other, suitable channels positioned between the inner and outer portions and extending above and below the spacing between the upper and lower plates of each portion and rigidly secured thereto, said latter channels having nailing strips rigidly secured thereto, so that molding board may be nailed over the spacing between the upper and lower plates of the inner portion.

12. In an article of manufacture, a fullroom size metal wall section which includes inner and outer plate portions having a spaced and parallel relationship with respect to each other, upwardly extending stud channels positioned between said inner and outer plate portions and rigidly secured thereto,

said inner plate portion having open spacing corresponding to a molding board level and to a baseboard height of a given room, nailing members rigidly secured to said section between the inner faces of the inner and outer plate portions opposite the molding board and baseboard spacing, so that suitable molding board and baseboard may be nailed thereto.

13. In an article of manufacture, a wall section for a building which includes a plurality of portions having a spaced relation with respect to each other, channel members disposed and positioned between said inner and outer portions and rigidly secured thereto, the outer of said plate portions having a plurality of upright metal lugs welded thereto, said lugs being drilled for receiving suitable screws therethrough, so that wood scantling may be secured to the outer plate portion.

14. In an article of manufacture, a fullroom size metal wall section for a building which includes inner and outer plate portions, stud channels spacing and rigidly s ecuring said portions in parallel relationship with respect to each other, each of said portions including upper and lower plates having their widths positioned in side-by-side and spaced relationship, and means positioned between said inner and outer plate portions for rigidly securing the upper and ower plates of one of said portions to each other and to the upper and lower plates of the other portion, so that a unitary section will be formed.

15. In an article of manufacture, a unitary metal wall section for a building construction which includes horizontally extending inner and outer plate portions, stud channels spacing said portions with respect to each other and extending vertically thereof for supporting said structure,'each of said portions including upper and lower plates having their widths positioned in parallel and vertically spaced relationship so that nailing members may be positioned adjacent the space between upper and lower plates for securing timber structure thereto, and add1- tional means positioned between said inner and outer plate portions for rigidly securing them together.

16. In an article of manufacture, a unltar wall section for building construction whic includes a plurality of planar and horizontally extending plate portions, vertically extending members disposed between said plate portions for spacing them with respect to each other, said members being rigidly secured to said plate ortions, the plate portions of said section aving upper and lower plates disposed in vertically spaced relation with respect to each other, and members positioned between the plate portions and disposed to extend across the spacing therebetween for additionally strengthening said section, so that nailing members may be positioned adjacent the space between upper and lower plates for securing timber structure thereto.

17. In an article of manufacture, a Wall section for a building which includes inner and outerplate portions having a spaced and parallel relation with respect to each other, channel members positioned between said inner and outer plates and extending upwardly therebetween for providing studding, the inner and outer plate portions of said section having a lower plate of relatively great width positioned to extend upwardly an upper plate section of relatively small width positioned to extend upwardly, said upper and lower plates being spaced from each other, members positioned between the inner and outer plate portions and extending above and below the adjacent edges of the upper and lower plates of both of said portions, said members being welded to said plates, so that a unitary section will be formed.

18. In an article of manufacture, a wall section for a building construction which includes a plurality of spaced and parallel plate portions, channel members disposed between said plate portions for spacing them with respect to each other and rigidly holding them in position, the plate portions having a plurality of plates disposed in parallel and spaced relation with respect to each other,

one of said plates having a greater width than another of said plates, and members disposed between the plate portions anddisposed to extend across the spacing between the plates of said portions for additionally strengthening the structure.

19. In an article of manufacture, a full room size of metal wall section which includes mner and outer spaced plate portions,'upwardly extending stud channels disposed between the inner and outer portions and rigidly secured thereto, said portions including upper and lower plates having their widths pos tloned in side-by-side and spaced relation with respect to each other, suitable channels positioned between the inner and outer plate portions and extending above and below thespacing between the upper and lower plates of each portion, said latter channels being rigidly secured to said. plate portions, said latter channels having nailing strips rigidly secured thereto, so that molding board may be nailed over the space between the upper and lower plates, the spacing between said studs corresponding to ordinary and suitable widths of window and door openings, said plate portions being cut out between a given set of stud channels for providing door and window openings, short length of channel members welded to the edges of the inner plate portion adjacent said openings and having nailing strips secured thereto, so that head jambs and sills may be nailed thereto.

ROBERT P. HUTGHINSON. 

